From Gary... Surprise

Surprise

(note: before clicking on the above link, make sure you have the sound turned all the way up on your computer)

For me, surprises usually aren't a good thing.  Often, they are a result of my own stupidity and lack of foresight.  So, I can relate to the picture from "two and a half men" big time!!!  But, what if you knew a surprise was coming; what then?  What if you also knew it was very important and you must do something about it? Read on to gain insight... 

Matthew, Chapter 24

27  For as the lightning flashes from the east, and is seen even to the west, so will be the coming of the Son of Man.

1 Thessalonians, Chapter 4

 13  But we don’t want you to be ignorant, brothers, concerning those who have fallen asleep, so that you don’t grieve like the rest, who have no hope.  14 For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so God will bring with him those who have fallen asleep in Jesus.  15 For this we tell you by the word of the Lord, that we who are alive, who are left to the coming of the Lord, will in no way precede those who have fallen asleep.  16 For the Lord himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with God’s trumpet. The dead in Christ will rise first,  17 then we who are alive, who are left, will be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air. So we will be with the Lord forever.  18 Therefore comfort one another with these words. 

Galatians, Chapter 3

 22 But the Scriptures imprisoned all things under sin, that the promise by faith in Jesus Christ might be given to those who believe.  23 But before faith came, we were kept in custody under the law, confined for the faith which should afterwards be revealed.  24 So that the law has become our tutor to bring us to Christ, that we might be justified by faith.  25 But now that faith has come, we are no longer under a tutor.  26 For you are all children of God, through faith in Christ Jesus.  27 For as many of you as were baptized into Christ have put on Christ.  28 There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free man, there is neither male nor female; for you are all one in Christ Jesus.  29 If you are Christ’s, then you are Abraham’s seed and heirs according to promise. 

Don't be surprised! Prepare!!!  No one knows the time of Jesus' second coming.  But, you can avoid any unpleasant surprises by being prepared.  How? By being a child of God; a "brother" in Christ.  The highlighted passage in Galatians tells you what to do, but really, it is up to you to decide to do it.  Time to go... but wait, is that a storm coming... I wonder if there will be thunder and LIGHTNING????

PS. Thanks Duane, for putting the video on facebook!!!

From Gary V. Womack... SHOW ME THE WAY

"SHOW ME THE WAY"

Moses' example of the power of prayer

Ex. 33:12-13 Moses prayed to God for guidance 

                    in order to lead His people.

Before Moses' prayer

Ex. 20:1-7 God SPOKE to the people His law

                 (Regarding idolatry and His sovereignty)

Ex. 20:18-23 The people feared God's voice.

                     (He had spoken directly to them so 

                     they would fear and not sin.)

After speaking directly to the people, God spoke to Moses

Punishment for violating this law (as spoken to Moses by God):

Ex. 22:20 "He who sacrifices to any god, except to 

                 the Lord only, he shall be utterly 

                 destroyed."

Ex. 23:20-26 God assured Moses, promising to 

                     send an Angel before them.

                    (He again reiterates His forbidding 

                    them to worship any other.)

                    But while God was instructing 

                    Moses, the people sinned

Ex. 32:1-10 They committed idolatry & God was 

                   ready to destroy them.

Ex. 32:11-14 Moses PRAYED for his people,  

                     pleading for mercy.

Ex. 33:1-6 God tells Moses to go with his people 

                 to the promised land. He would send 

                 an Angel before them, but HE would 

                 not go with them.

Ex. 33:12-13 Moses' prayer: "SHOW ME THE 

                                               WAY"

"Way" - "A course of life or mode of action."

Ex. 33:14-16 After God agrees to go before them,  

                     Moses' reply:

                     "If You don't go with us, don't send 

                      us on our way."

BUMPER STICKER I SAW - "Don't leave home without Him."

Moses realized his/their need. By His going with them, it would demonstrate that they were His people & mark their separation from all other people (as they entered the land of Canaan with its idolatrous people.)

1 Pet. 2:9-12 We are His people, distinct from the 

                     world. Live according to His 

                     guidance so the world will 

                     recognize this and glorify Him.

Prayer - Requires an acknowledgment that we are in need of Him.

Jn. 15:1-8 Jesus' parable of the Vine and the 

                 branches.

(Shows our need for him in producing fruit.)

OUR NEED FOR CHRIST IN THIS WORLD

As Moses, Christ now serves as our Mediator

(Ex. 32:11-14) Moses had pleaded on their 

                       behalf, interceding as a mediator.

1 Tim. 2:5 "For there is one God and one Mediator 

                  between God and men, the Man Christ 

                  Jesus."

Psm. 34:15-18 The Lord hears the righteous 

                        (broken-hearted, contrite, humble)

                        but not those who do evil.

Jas. 5:16-18 Effective prayer - by the righteous - 

                    accomplishes MUCH.

vss. 19-20 To turn back the sinful (As Moses did) 

                  covers much sin.

As we reach out to save the lost - remember Moses.

INVITATION

Eph. 6:10-20 Be strong in the Lord - put on your 

                     armor - and PRAY.

From Jim McGuiggan... GOD WOULD BE ASHAMED OF HIMSELF

GOD WOULD BE ASHAMED OF HIMSELF

I can't help it. I know there is profound evil in the world and that we humans can descend to depths of wickedness that can take our breath away. I know that! Listen, I know that!

But in the midst of all that, there they are, men and women, boys and girls who are as gallant as any movie star we've ever seen. The gracious Holy One is still at work in the human family and in their tens of millions in every generation they astonish the watchers who find it hard to believe what their eyes and ears tell them.

The Hebrew writer speaks of men and women of faith who were stoned to death, sawn asunder and who lived in caves, persecuted and tormented; all of them, waiting for God to fulfil his promises. But though commended for their faith and though it is true that the world was not worthy of them they died without receiving what had been promised (11:37-38).

Exciting words these, marvelous stories and daring characters! A book full of that stuff sells well, sermons like that preach well and don’t the congregations love them! And so they should! But what makes an inspiring book or movie is that it has an end and the end makes all the hurt and struggle well worthwhile. The movie ends, the credits roll and we leave pleased that the injustice was dealt with, the wrongs were righted, the truth triumphed and we drive home feeling that it’s great to be alive!

In the days that follow the surge subsides, the flame dies down and we’re face to face with the same stubborn entrenched evils—inside and all around us. Widespread goodness seems to be something we dream about. It doesn’t matter that there truly is thriving goodness that’s just as stubborn and just as ingrained as the evils we see. It’s easy to be disheartened. The goodness and its power seems to be too little too late and early promise comes to nothing. Doesn’t that seem to be the usual, isn’t it what breaks the hearts of once flaming reformers? Sure it is, that’s why Lord Morley said, "For the wettest of wet blankets give me the middle-aged man who more than the rest was a visionary in his youth." Pretty sad commentary that, but it probably has more truth in it than we’d like to admit.

There was this vulnerable handful of people, feeling the bite of famine, they went down to Egypt and ended up enslaved and brutalized. But one of them came to believe that he was God’s chosen to do the impossible, and bless me, that multitude walked out of a ruined Egypt, walked through a belligerent sea that blocked their way...but only to find themselves wandering in a moody, killing wilderness. But the believers whipped the wilderness and settled in a tiny fertile land only to find themselves vomited out again and scattered throughout the nations of the world. Two steps forward, three steps back—so they felt and so they experienced, though there were those among them who kept saying that however it looked and however many disappointments there were they were still on the road to glory.

There was this young man in whom the realization grew that he was God’s chosen to redeem a sinful and hurting world. You know the facts well. A young Messiah, the gathered masses, the healed, the now smiling, the sense of glad expectancy and then...then the dispersing crowds, the gathering clouds, the threatened and threatening authorities, the vested interests closing ranks, a hurried and shameless trial and a rush to the hanging tree. Then the followers, slinking back to Galilee with hopes dashed, back to villagers that gave them the "I told you so" looks, back to dreamless fishing, cold wet nights and the all too hum drum and familiar. The adventure had ended; a firecracker that fizzled out without an explosion!

We can hear the critics whisper to each other at the sight of the disappointed believers. Moe than that, we can imagine the depressed believers sum it all up as a lost venture. Well, it was too much to expect, the dreams were too grand and their hearts had flown too high. Bit silly really, now that they mused on it as they hauled in their nets or locked themselves in upper rooms or trudged their way to Emmaus. They were nothing more than ordinary people but...but didn’t they dream well? Weren’t they marvelous at imagining a glorious life and nation and world? Too bad God wasn’t as big as their dreams and vision of him.

But that wasn’t how it was to end! The ancients, battered and beaten, hounded and hurt, had died believing and it was God that generated their dreams and their faith. He had said such and such and they had believed him! They rose to the challenge; they defied the world with all its cynicism, moral gloom and crushing disappointment and died expecting! Weren’t they glorious in all their ordinariness? Doesn’t Hebrews 11, if you have half an imagination, read better than the finest Hollywood epic?

If God hadn’t worked it out he would have been ashamed to link his name with people like that! It isn't difficult to hear even the friendly critics say, "Yahweh? Oh, yes, that’s the name they gave that god that Israel believed in, wasn’t it? The god that made all those promises that Israel believed? Hmmm. Sad isn’t it? They left everything to follow him. Too bad, really, that it all came to nothing. Pathetic that he wasn’t up to keeping his word. Oh well. There it is.")

And what of the young Messiah? It wasn’t possible, Peter said, for death to hold Jesus because he had trusted God with all his being, believing in God’s purpose and promise and dying with words of trust on his lips. If God hadn’t raised him to immortality and glory he would have been ashamed of himself. In trusting us God puts us to the test but in bringing us to believe in him God puts his own reputation on the line.

And we—because God said suffering precedes glory—staring down tsunamis, liver cancers, broken homes, moral losses, bereavements, public opinion and government nonsense, old age and loss of dignity—what of us? Will we live and die with glad hearts believing? If we do, God won’t be able to face us, won’t be able to look us in the eye if he doesn’t bring our dreams (his dreams in us) to a glorious conclusion.

He would be ashamed to admit he is our God.

©2004 Jim McGuiggan. All materials are free to be copied and used as long as money is not being made.

Many thanks to brother Ed Healy for allowing me to post from his website, the abiding word.com

From Mark Copeland... The Great Commission

                        "THE GOSPEL OF MATTHEW"

                    The Great Commission (28:16-20)

INTRODUCTION

1. The gospel of Matthew ends with Jesus meeting with His apostles in
   Galilee...
   a. Foretold by Jesus before His betrayal - Mt 26:31-32
   b. Announced by both an angel and Jesus after His resurrection - Mt 28:7,10

2. It was a meeting filled with mixed emotions - Mt 28:16-17
   a. Seeing Jesus, they worshipped Him
   b. Yet some were doubtful
      1) It is unlikely this refers to the apostles, for they had seen
         Jesus earlier - cf. Jn 20:19-20,24-29
      2) This may have been the occasion where over 500 saw Him at
         once, and some may have wondered what they were seeing - cf.
         1Co 15:6

3. It was a meeting in which Jesus gave His disciples a command - Mt 28:18-20
   a. To make disciples of all the nations
   b. Baptizing and teaching them
   -- Ending with a promise to always be with them

[This command is commonly called "The Great Commission".  As we take a
few moments to look at it more closely, we may better understand what
was so "great" about it...]

I. GREAT IN ITS AUTHORITY

   A. JESUS HAS BEEN GIVEN "ALL AUTHORITY"...
      1. As the Creator, He had the original right to all things - Co
         1:16-17
      2. As our Redeemer, even more so! - Php 2:6-11

   B. "ALL AUTHORITY" BOTH IN HEAVEN AND ON EARTH...
      1. He now rules in the heavenly realm - 1Pe 3:22; Ep 1:20-23
      2. He also rules over the kings of the earth! - Re 1:5; Ps 2:
         1-12; 110:1-6

   C. WITH "ALL AUTHORITY" IN HEAVEN AND ON EARTH...
      1. Jesus certainly deserves our obedience to Him as Lord - Ac 2:
         36; Lk 6:46
      2. Jesus certainly can deliver on His promises - 2Pe 1:2-5

[On the basis of such great authority, Jesus gives "The Great 
Commission".  As we continue, we notice that it is...]

II. GREAT IN ITS MISSION

   A. THEY WERE TO "MAKE DISCIPLES"...
      1. The KJV says "teach", the Greek word means "to make disciples"
      2. Thus they were to make "learners", "adherents", "imitators" of
         Jesus Christ
         a. Jesus had been inviting people to become His disciples all
            along - Mt 4:18-22; 11:28-30
         b. He expected His disciples to become like Him - Lk 6:40

   B. HOW THEY WERE TO "MAKE DISCIPLES"...
      1. First, by "baptizing them" in the name of the Father, Son, and
         Holy Spirit
         a. A baptism for the remission of sins - Ac 2:38; 22:16
         b. A baptism in water - Ac 8:35-38; 10:47-48
         c. A burial - Ro 6:3-6; Col 2:11-12
      2. Then by "teaching them to observe all things" He had commanded
         a. Baptism is only the beginning, teaching must continue
         b. Such was the case with the early disciples - Ac 2:41-42
      -- Both baptism and ongoing teaching is essential to true
         discipleship!

[We should also observe concerning "The Great Commission" that it
was...]

III. GREAT IN ITS SCOPE

   A. IT IS FOR "ALL NATIONS"...
      1. They were to go into all the world, and preach to every
         creature - Mk 16:15
      2. They were to be witnesses to the uttermost parts of the earth
         - Ac 1:8

   B. FOR "ALL NATIONS", NOT JUST ISRAEL...
      1. With the Limited Commission, it was just for Israel - Mt 10:
         5-6
      2. Now the Gentiles (all nations) could become fellow-heirs - Ep 2:11-22

   C. FOR "ALL NATIONS", NOT JUST OUR OWN...
      1. Jesus would have us think "globally", not just locally
      2. While we should be mindful of our local community, we should
         also be thinking of those abroad

[Finally, we note concerning "The Great Commission" that it is...]

IV. GREAT IN ITS PROMISE

   A. "I AM WITH YOU ALWAYS"...
      1. A promise similar to those Jesus made earlier:
         a. To His apostles - Mt 18:20
         b. To those who keep His commandments - Jn 14:18-23
      2. A promise similar to those God gave to:
         a. Moses - Exo 3:11-12
         b. Joshua - Josh 1:5
         c. The nation of Israel - Isa 41:10
      3. A promise that ought to provide much comfort when oppressed
         - Ro 8:31-38; He 13:5-6

   B. "EVEN TO THE END OF THE AGE"...
      1. Even to the time when:
         a. The Great Harvest will occur - Mt 13:39-43
         b. The wicked shall be separated from the just - Mt 13:49
      2. Throughout this Christian age or dispensation, Jesus will
         forever be with His disciples
         a. As they go into all the world
         b. Making more disciples

CONCLUSION

1. Is "The Great Commission" limited just to the apostles?
   a. Note well that disciples were to "observe all things that I
      commanded you"
   b. What did Jesus just command the apostles? (Go therefore and make
      disciples...)
   c. Future disciples were to observe all commands, including this
      one!
   -- Therefore "The Great Commission" is a commission to the church as
      well!

2. Do we honor "The Great Commission" in our lives?  We do if we are...
   a. Submitting to the authority of Jesus
   b. Working to make disciples of Jesus
   c. Striving to make disciples in all the nations of the world
   d. Abiding in His Word and thereby ensuring His abiding presence in
      our lives

Shortly after giving "The Great Commission", Jesus ascended to heaven
(Ac 1:9-11).  His earliest disciples took that commission and did
great things with it.

May these words of Jesus motivate us to do great things in our service
to Him also!

Executable Outlines, Copyright © Mark A. Copeland, 2011